Look and feel of a campus is a very personal, generally unreasonable reaction to a place.
I have one that loved stone, and another that loved brick. Some campuses have both…but the “main” buildings tend to lean in favor of one. The older the school…the more likely a mix, but geography is also a big part.
For the Maine schools…Colby and Bates I recall as being nearly all brick. Bowdoin has a bit of everything. Hamilton has even more of everything (concrete and cold war somehow work on the dark side). Colgate = Brick? Philly schools…Stone. Connecticut college…brick. Lehigh…Both? Lafayette…a lot of brick with some stone. Bucknell…Brick. Hopkins…brick. Dartmouth…brick and wood (white). Princeton…every material known. Harvard…brick. and on…and on…
In the end, I think people associate “college” to building material and to a lesser extent the landscape. The smaller the school, the more lasting the impressions. Arboretums are good. Hills and water are nice. Flat not so much, and has to make it up with Architecture.
Disclaimer: there is no science or citation for the opinions expressed above…